The Akron Beacon Journal, Ohio, Jason Lloyd column

7:36 a.m. EST, June 23, 2012|Jason Lloyd, Akron Beacon Journal

It took seven questions for LeBron James' celebratory news conference to get around to us.

He spoke about his journey, about being humbled by losing in the NBA Finals last year. The Akron native spoke about how much it hurt him to be labeled as "selfish" for his decision to leave Cleveland, and he insisted that he didn't take any shortcuts to this championship.

Then the seventh question sent James' way in the early hours of Friday morning inside AmericanAirlines Arena in Miami was about us.

"This question isn't intended to bait you or intended as some negative question," the reporter began, "but what would you say to the Cleveland fans tonight that wanted to share this moment with you, wanted to win this championship with you? What words would you offer them?"

It's a fair question, asked delicately, to which thousands of people in Northeast Ohio would love to know the answer.

Only he didn't really answer it.

"I'm sitting here as a member of the Miami Heat," James began. "The hard work and dedication that we put in these last two years to get to this point, it was unbelievable. I wanted to become a champion someday. I didn't know exactly when it would happen, but I put in a lot of hard work. For me, I'm happy. I'm very excited. I'm very happy right now to be a champion. Nobody can take that away from me."

The words "Cleveland" and "Cavaliers" never fell out of his mouth after winning his first championship. In truth, it's probably better that way.

Cleveland was his starter wife. When the Cavs looked old and haggard to him, he left for the supermodel in a thong. That was never more evident than the early hours of Friday morning.

There was nothing James could say in that moment, with his body soaked in champagne and trophies flanked on either side of him, that would make any of this better. Any comment about the Cavs would come off as patronizing or insincere.

So I asked Keith Dambrot, James' old coach at St. Vincent-St. Mary High School who still chats with him on occasion, if this would've meant more to him had he won it with the Cavaliers.

"I think he would've preferred to win it here," Dambrot said. "He just didn't feel he could win it in Cleveland, so he had to go where he could win it. We all want to do great things in our own backyard, but at some point, we have to make decisions if we can do it or not."

Even without a championship, LeBron was still a three-time league MVP. When he was right, he was the most unstoppable force on a basketball court anywhere in the world.

Now that he has a ring, it's frightening to think how good James can be now that the burden has been unhitched. Most champions will tell you the most difficult title to earn is the first. It took nine years, but James finally got there.

"The monkey is off his back now," Dambrot said. "It'll change how people view him and he'll be at peace he won a title. Now they'll have to find somebody else to pick on who hasn't won a championship."

Anthony is the only top five player from that glittering 2003 draft class not to win a championship. Yes, even Darko Milicic was given a ring for sitting on the bench with the Detroit Pistons in 2004.

Anthony will now squirm -- under the glare of the New York spotlight -- at the questions that chased LeBron for years from Cleveland all the way to Miami.

Late night spilled into the early hours of Friday morning when James completed his postgame interview. When he was done, he picked up the Larry O'Brien Trophy and his NBA Finals Most Valuable Player trophy.

"Hey, man, I'm an NBA champion," he said, almost as if he didn't believe it himself.

Love him or hate him, LeBron James played his finest basketball when his team needed him most in these NBA Finals. That's indisputable.

So is this: He is 27, the same age as Michael Jordan when Jordan won the first of his six titles. It might have taken nine years to win the first one, but James has plenty of time to win plenty more.